What can you do with a cargo of solar lights and tarpaulins, Bibles, guitars and tambourines, soccer balls and volleyballs, hinges, padlocks, saws, and spanners...?

You can help rebuild a church!

And there is certainly a lot of rebuilding to do since the February earthquake that devastated remote areas of Papua New Guinea.

The German Liebenzell Mission wanted to assist the communities in a practical way so they sent donations to missionaries Gerhard and Brigitte Stamm to buy the things the communities needed.

These donations were turned into a variety of useful utensils, enough to bless and encourage the congregation of three communities! The churches at Dodomona and Walagu got their share on the 14th May when the MAF plane landed piloted by Captains Mathias Glass and Luke Newell.

It was a busy day's flying for the two experienced pilots who spent four and a half hours in the air and made no less than 13 stops before the end of the day!

Also on board the MAF Caravan that morning there were two heavy boxes from the SIL Press, containing the Gospel of John in the Edolo Language as well as 10 boxes of medical supplies to stock up the Dodomona Health Post.

What a great loading to start another week of flying to bring help, hope, and healing to people living in isolated and hard to reach places!

'What can you do with a cargo of solar lights and tarpaulins, Bibles, guitars and tambourines, soccer balls and volleyballs, hinges, padlocks, saws, and spanners...?'

Pilot Steven Eatwell flew a medevac and earthquake relief flight to the remote communities of Huya and Bosavi. He brought relief supplies and assessed the condition of the airstrips while he was there.

Recently in Papua New Guinea, short-term Swiss staff member Remo Ruegg's plans for the day took a different turn when one of his neighbours knocked on his door.
Story Remo Ruegg. Photos Remo Ruegg (RR) and Nawi Mabo (NM)

At MAF, we know that when we provide access to remote areas those areas are helped, resourced and receive medical assistance. However, sometimes it is when access is withdrawn for a time – often for unavoidable reasons – that it brings home the reality of our absence.

Paul Woodington, a pilot with MAF Papua New Guinea, recalls a medevac flight which happened just before Christmas 2017. Thanks to quick thinking, good decision-making and trust in God, Paul managed to help two severely ill patients, including the son of a missionary partner, reach the medical care they needed.

In August 2016, Geoff Boer was having a normal day. Just after dinner, disaster struck as he experienced a heart attack. he was flown for treatment the following morning and after surgery, has made a full recovery. Without the quick thinking and acting MAF staff and partners, Geoff may not have survived.

Kompiam Rural Hospital in Papua New Guinea is at the end of a road, inaccessible except by walking or flying, to the people it serves. The area is troubled by tribal skirmishes which have claimed more than 40 lives in the last six months.

MAF Pilot Paul Woodington displays professional dedication and personal sacrifice as he battles the jungle to bring the Jesus film to an isolated corner of Papua New Guinea. We hope it encourages you to continue fighting for the Gospel.

Michael Duncalfe has been flying Twin Otters since 1998, clocking up over 6,500 hours in the process. MAF Partnership Manager – and resident aviation enthusiast – Olly Nunn asks him to share with our supporters why this aircraft is so special

MAF women in Papua New Guinea come together a few times a year to pack Care Bags for women we fly for emergency hospital care. Madeleine Bischoff, wife of MAF pilot Markus, shares the joy of blessing two new mothers, with bags and shares their stories.

MAF's scheduled flight from Wewak was cancelled at the very last minute. But then the phone rang! An urgent medevac flight was required. And Agatha's village was in the opposite direction. (Photos: Ludmer Meiko)

As a humanitarian crisis looms over war-torn South Sudan, MAF is working closely with NGO partners to fly emergency food and medical supplies. Amid the physical and political heat came this flight carrying something literally 'cool' and life-saving for 50,000 children.

MAF has only just begun flying in Liberia but we're already helping Water Missions International (WMI) to improve the water supply in various health centres. André Mergenthaler, Director of International Projects tell why he is happy to travel with MAF

Meet Negmit, a teenager in Mongolia with cerebral palsy and a gentle spirit. He is one of many children MAF has flown from the remote countryside to get life-transforming therapy treatment in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.